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It’s 2 a.m., inside Any Airport, USA, and someone makes the announcement that the delayed 6 p.m. flight from earlier that night will finally begin boarding. The catatonic crowd in the packed waiting area begins to form a line, tired and relieved to be getting on their way.
The perky gate agent starts loading passengers by boarding group, and as she checks boarding passes, half-heartedly asks people to stow smaller items under the seat to leave room for larger bags in the overhead bins. Onboard, flight attendants don’t care much about bags, either. Consequently, plenty of coats and small items fill the only storage area that can accommodate a suitcase.
It doesn’t take a mind reader to know what happens next. There’s no room left, and the remaining passengers just had another 40 minutes or so added to an already miserable excursion. Thanks, airline! With a modicum of effort, everyone’s bag could have fit, but not tonight.
While great customers certainly deserve an organization’s appreciation, in this instance, the airline’s focus should have been on accommodating all customers’ carry-ons.
By wasting people’s time, the airline managed to make the skies and the ground anything but friendly. Oddly, that same company will spend millions on marketing in an attempt to build relationships with the customers.
For a company to have anything but a dysfunctional relationship with its customers, however, it must show them respect. Without it, the rest means nothing.
At the heart of disrespectful service are three errors: taking actions that charge customers money they don’t expect to spend, costing customers time they don’t have to give, and failing to deliver on promises.
Fatal Error One: You cost customers money they don’t expect to spend. If you’ve ever made a reservation at a hotel with plans of arriving late, sleeping and checking out first thing, you’re like many business travelers. If you’ve also had that in-and-out plan along with the experience of unexpectedly encountering a hefty resort fee charged to all guests regardless of use, you know what it’s like to part with money and not feel good about it—even if that money isn’t yours.
While there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with having a resort fee, what’s wrong is leaving off the total when the reservation is booked. It’s dishonest. If the fee isn’t optional, it’s part of the cost and should be listed as such. Customers have a right to know what things cost. When they don’t, they don’t like you much.
Fatal Error Two: You cost customers time they don’t need to spend. If you’ve ever been to a well-run theme park, you’ve witnessed staff exceptional at safely moving huge numbers of people through the gates, on and off rides, and in and out of restaurants. Sure, lines are long, but nobody is waiting one second longer than absolutely necessary.
If you’re working in a venue where long lines exist and guests see obvious inefficiencies, watch out. The most tolerant people will transform into loud and impatient customers who channel annoyance into intense anger right before your eyes.
Nobody wants their time wasted. Great service providers see the experience through the customer’s eyes. They know it’s important to be responsive and do what they can to avoid wasting time.
Are there places where inefficiencies exist that could be eliminated without sacrificing safety or organization values? If so, show your customers some respect by becoming more efficient. If you’re unsure where you could make improvements, ask your customers. They’ve had enough time to think about it while waiting for you to get your act together.
Fatal Error Three: You fail to deliver on promises. Companies that fail to deliver on promises erode customer trust. Don’t believe it? Think about toy commercials from your childhood. How about the one you obsessed over that showed a toy doing something amazing—weren’t you a little disappointed when it didn’t behave as advertised? You felt crushed and misled. Your customers experience those same emotions when you don’t come through, and they don’t like you very much when you fail to deliver.
Take inventory of your promises. Where are you living up to your word and where are you falling down? Start fixing the areas that are bound to cause disappointment or worse.
Being opaque about costs, making customers wait and failing to deliver on promises all indicate disrespect. Each shows people you don’t value them and you don’t think they’re worthy of receiving better treatment. In other words, you just don’t like them enough to do better. Is it any wonder they don’t like you back?
Kate Zabriskie is president of Business Training Works, a Maryland-based talent development firm.